Welcome to the third blog in our Back to School with Bookshare series that helps teachers get a strong start to the school year. In this blog, we take you on a tour of Bookshare’s bountiful Special Collections, recognize an award-winning author, and share a few literary gems that students are reading.

Special Collections are a Huge Hit

Are you looking for books for your students? Bookshare librarians have created over 110 (and growing) lists of specially curated books that will engage your students and keep them reading. Teachers love this feature and have already assigned lists to over 5,000 students!

Access Special Collections by selecting Browse on any Bookshare webpage. Then select a list and select the subscribe icon next to the list name. The list will appear in My Reading Lists and will be updated automatically as new books are added. You can then assign lists to students so they can read on their own. For detailed instructions, view our how-to guide.

Special Collections for teachers who work with K-12 students who have IEPs:

Journeys Common Core K-6 : Journeys English Language Arts program provided by the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center (NIMAC). These textbooks are available to U.S. students with an IEP (Individualized Education Program) per the IDEA 2004 legislation.

Featured Author: Katherine Paterson

“Reading can be a road to freedom or a key to a secret garden, which, if tended, will transform all of life.” So says Katherine Paterson, author of over 35 books, two-time Newbery Medal winner for Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, and the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Bookshare has all of her books in a Special Collection for students to explore and enjoy.

Note: In case you missed them, Back to School with BooksharePart 1 featured tips from Special Education Resource Teacher Diane Lurye, and Part 2 featured advice from Deirdre Watkins, teacher of the visually impaired.

Equal access means equal opportunity for students with disabilities

Deirdre Watkins, TVI

Welcome to the second blog in our Back to School with Bookshare series. These blogs help teachers get a strong start to the school year so they can help their students be successful. The first blog featured Special Education Resource Teacher Diane Lurye and the ways she uses Bookshare to encourage reading independence.

“Technology is the equalizer for students with disabilities,” says Deirdre Watkins, an Itinerant Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments in the Dekalb County School District in Georgia. She serves sixteen students in pre-K through 12th grade across six schools who have visual impairments ranging from low vision to blindness, in addition to other disabilities.

Deirdre explains how critical it is for her students to get the books they need at the beginning of the school year so they don’t fall behind. She looks for ebooks, large print, and braille books from a variety of sources. “Bookshare is always my number one go-to resource since it has such a wide variety of books. Plus, it’s free for students with disabilities who qualify,” she says.

“With Bookshare, my students gain access to their textbooks and reading assignments at the same time as their sighted peers. They can use universal learning tools like smartphones, tablets, and computers to access books just like their classmates, which eliminates the stigma of being different. The accessible formats level the playing field and give them the same advantages. Equal access means equal opportunities.”

Deirdre emphasizes how much her students want to learn and succeed. “Not having access to books

Deirdre Watkins with Sydney at her high school graduation

chips away at their self-esteem and ability to learn,” she says. Her students don’t want to sit in the classroom doing a different assignment while everyone else is reading a book they don’t have. Fortunately, Bookshare’s collection of over half a million books is an antidote to that problem.

Read it your way

Deirdre’s students read and listen to digital books primarily on smartphones and tablets because they are portable, lightweight, and easy to access. Others use Braille Notetakers, Victor Reader Stream, or Book Port Plus, a handheld media player for talking books. When it comes to reading tools, a favorite is the Voice Dream Reader app for iOS and Android devices that comes with 36 different text-to-speech (TTS) voices. JAWS, a popular screen reader, uses the Eloquence voice synthesizer. “There are so many options available,” says Deirdre, “and my students always find a voice they like.”

Deirdre’s tips to start the school year off right

One of her students, Sydney, just graduated and is attending the Savannah College of Art and Design this fall. She has low vision and prefers to use accessibility features such as font size and contrast adjustments as well as text highlighting. Says Deirdre, “with so many features and choices available, students can customize their reading experience to access the same information, but in different ways.”

Find out students’ schedules, required textbooks, and reading lists as early as possible – the previous spring if necessary — so you can get books in the formats they need by the first week of school

Meet with students’ teachers to learn the supplemental reading assignments (e.g., novels) and peruse Bookshare and other libraries to get these books. If a teacher changes the reading list midstream, Deirdre can get books immediately from Bookshare.

Special education teacher shares four steps to reading independence

Welcome to the first blog in our Back to School with Bookshare series. Over the next two months, we will publish a series of blogs specifically designed to help teachers, students, and parents get a fresh start to the school year. The blogs will feature tips from the teaching trenches, advice on classroom collaboration, and insights on achieving reading independence through assistive technology.

Diane Lurye is a Special Education Resource Teacher at Bells Mill Elementary School in Montgomery County, Maryland. She serves an average of 23 students in K-5 with a range of educational disabilities, including specific learning disabilities and speech and language impairments. “My job is to provide instruction and support for students with disabilities so they progress academically and socially and access the general education curriculum,” says Diane. She is a big advocate of collaboration so she can leverage the school’s resources to meet her students’ needs. With that in mind, Diane shares four steps she takes to prepare for the school year and increase her students’ reading independence:

1-Take Advantage of District Resources

At the top of her list is HIAT — High Incidence Accessible Technology — a collaborative team in her district that applies the principles of universal design for learning to support school teams to meet the needs of all students. They provide training and consultation to build the capacity of classroom environments to incorporate technology options. It was through one of their professional development courses that Diane learned about Bookshare in 2008. “They are an incredible resource, and I feel so fortunate to have their support for my students,” says Diane.

2-Collaborate with Regular Classroom Teachers

One of the most successful ways that Diane has used Bookshare is to support fourth and fifth graders in Literature Circles in their general education classrooms. Students select a novel to read and then participate in a group discussion. “By using Bookshare’s text-to-speech (TTS) capability, my students are able to read a book above their reading level and keep up with the demand of reading several chapters within a given time period. They are prepared to discuss the book with their peers and share their understanding and insights. It raises their self-esteem and encourages them to seek out more books and become more proficient readers,” says Diane.

3-Prepare Reading Lists Before School Starts

Diane takes every opportunity to tell the school staff about Bookshare and explain how important it is for students with disabilities to have digital, accessible versions of their books. Diane requests lists of required reading and other curriculum materials from classroom teachers well before school starts. This gives her a chance to prepare Reading Lists in Bookshare that the students can access with their Bookshare Student Logins. “Many students have difficulty with foundational reading skills such as decoding, fluency, and comprehension, and Bookshare gives them access to rich literature and digital text that makes them more independent at school and at home,” says Diane.

4-Teach New Students How to Use Bookshare

Students in Montgomery County Public Schools have Chromebooks available to them for most of the school day which has improved their access to digital text. Diane teaches her new students how to log in to Bookshare, search for and download books, and read using Bookshare Web Reader.

Students have benefitted from using ebooks with TTS. In addition to getting books much faster, they can control the voices, adjust speeds, and follow along with the text. “The pronunciation is not perfect, but when students catch an occasional mispronunciation it shows that they are paying attention and learning,” says Diane.

Parents have shared that having Bookshare at home has helped their students with reading, and they are more willing to engage in reading and discuss the books. Another example of independence through collaboration.

On the Digital Bookshelf

Here are several novels that Diane’s students enjoyed reading during Literature Circles:

Have you noticed something different about Bookshare’s Special Collections? They are much easier to use and you can subscribe to them like a Reading List!

After hearing how much people enjoy building their own Reading Lists, and seeing how teachers are using and sharing Reading Lists in their schools, Bookshare went the next step to make Special Collections even easier to use.

Special Collections are customized Reading Lists that are curated by the Bookshare Collection Development team. The staff is actively looking for books that members will enjoy and organizing them into fun and interesting lists. Here is a preview of some of the many lists available:

Books to Film

Alternate History

Stay Financially Fit

Resources for Returning Veterans

Mark Zuckerberg’s “A Year of Books”

As well as popular lists like New York Times Bestsellers, Pulitzer Award Winners, and more!

Altogether, there are more than one hundred collections that you can access via the Browse link on any Bookshare page.

Select Lists and Subscribe

The newly designed Browse page has book cover images for visual users and links and section headings for members who use screen readers. Select a list and download or open any book with Bookshare Web Reader as you normally would. The new, exciting improvement is that you can now subscribe to a Special Collection, and it will appear on your own view of My Reading Lists for easy access. As the Bookshare team adds more books, they will automatically appear on your view of the list.

For those of you who are educators, you can assign lists to students who can read every book on the list using their Bookshare Student Login. You can also make a copy of a Special Collection and add or delete titles as you wish. Note that copied lists will no longer receive updates from the original Special Collection.

Special Collections for School Districts

We have also started to create Special Collections for schools, including Reading Lists provided to us by districts around the country. You’ll be able to subscribe to or copy those for your own use, and, if you have a really incredible list of Bookshare titles that you’d like to share with other members or educators, please drop us a line. We will try to honor all requests to share your lists through the Special Collections feature, and if the demand is high, we can train volunteers to assist as well.

With over 550,000 titles, you need effective tools to help you discover and find books. Let Special Collections be a guide. As always, we love feedback from our members and from parents and educators of student members, so don’t hesitate to share suggestions for improvements, handy-dandy tricks that you’ve found, or joys you’ve had when discovering the myriad of titles available on Bookshare.

Bookshare member navigates life transitions with a positive attitude, assistive technology, friends and family, and a dose of humor.

John Miller visiting the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina

John Miller, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, is a graduate student, aspiring journalist, and author of a travel blog. You may not think this is unusual until you learn that John is blind. John has an insightful way of seeing the world and that perspective shines through his poignant – and often humorous – blog posts. One reader commented: “I feel the special warmth and generosity of your character that shines through your words.” When I interviewed John last month, I immediately sensed his upbeat, can-do attitude and willingness to embrace life’s challenges and surprises.

John has Norrie Disease which is a rare genetic disorder that causes blindness, progressive deafness, and, occasionally, cognitive impairments. John has had it since birth and is the President of the Norrie Disease Association. That says a lot about him right there. Growing up in Charlotte, his five sisters read to him a lot, so he learned to love books at an early age.

When he was fourteen, the family moved to rural Southern Pines, about two hours from Charlotte. He was the only blind student at Pinecrest High School, and the administrators had no idea how to accommodate him. The best they could do was provide a resource teacher one day a week. As you can imagine, John learned how to be resourceful by necessity.

“Back in the 1990s I used an NLS (National Library Service) player to listen to books on tape and had big, bulky Braille books that I stuffed in a backpack and needed big muscles to carry around,” recalls John. After high school he attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Charlotte, but even with some support from Disabled Students Services (DSS), he still relied on student readers and spent hours scanning books to keep up in class. “No matter what I did or how hard I tried, I was always behind,” says John.

Bookshare and Assistive Technology Provide Books and Independence

Thankfully, technology came to the rescue when he enrolled in UNC-Chapel Hill for graduate studies in 2009. He learned about Bookshare and signed up for a free membership as a student. He found many of his textbooks in Bookshare. He reads books from Bookshare, Audible, and Libro.FM on his iPhone and Macbook. “Technology has really accelerated the past five years,” says John. He uses a braille display device that connects to his iPhone. He downloads a book onto his iPhone (or Mac), transfers the digital file to his braille display using Bluetooth, and then reads the book on the refreshable braille display. He also uses the iPhone’s VoiceOver screen reader.

Having multiple sources of digital books allows him to find and read books at the same time as everyone else. “That still boggles my mind. I can hear about a book that just came out and find it right away. Blind people never had that kind of access before,” says John.

“I am a huge reader. I can’t stop myself from reading. It keeps me balanced. It gives me more word choices and helps with my writing.” John particularly enjoys science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and memoirs. “I have everything at my fingertips – an unending access to books. I’m a huge book junkie.”

The Future is Bright

John is currently attending Queen’s University in Charlotte to finish up his master’s degree in communications. He hopes to embark on a career that involves blogging and social media, possibly for a nonprofit. In the meantime, he is just trying to learn as much as he can and create opportunities for himself.

What advice does John have for other students? “Remember to network! Don’t just lock yourself in your room and do your schoolwork. Go out and find interest areas, internships, volunteer opportunities, and meet people and get involved. Getting good grades isn’t enough; you need practical experiences too,” says John.

What’s next for John? He’s getting married in January on a cruise to the Bahamas. I can’t wait to read his blog about what will certainly be an extra special travel experience.

Read John’s blog: http://blindtravel.net – A Blind Man’s Journey: Because You Don’t Need Sight to See the World

Members of the Bookshare team are packing their bags for Houston, Chicago, Sparks, and Orlando this summer to attend four conferences sponsored by: Texas Assistive Technology Network (TATN), American Library Association (ALA), American Council of the Blind (ACB), and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB).

We hope to see you at one or more of these events where you can learn about:

Bookshare’s huge collection of over 550,000 titles in accessible formats for school, work, and recreational reading

The Texas Assistive Technology Network Statewide Conference is sponsored by the Texas Assistive Technology Network (TATN) and the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Assistive Technology enables students with disabilities to access the curriculum, increase independence, and participate actively in education and life activities.

Come visit the Bookshare team in the Exhibit Hall (booth #8). In addition, Jeanie Bell, one of the Outreach Coordinators for the Accessible Books for Texas program, is speaking on June 14: “Cool Tools for Students Who Face Barriers to Reading Print.” She will share a variety of technologies that allow students with visual impairments, learning disabilities, and physical disabilities to read in ways that work for them.

The ALA Annual Conference is the premier global library event each year, bringing together the newsmakers, innovators, thought leaders, and influencers in the library field, from all over the world. Librarians can learn about the tools, ideas and resources available and identify the best programs for their area of librarianship.

We invite you to visit our booth in the Exhibit Hall (#3956) where our staff will share how Bookshare partners with libraries, authors, and publishers to make books and library services more accessible to people with disabilities, and also demonstrate how Bookshare works.

The American Council of the Blind strives to increase the independence, security, equality of opportunity, and quality of life, for all blind and visually impaired people. The theme of the 56th ACB Conference and Convention at the Nugget Casino Resort is “ACB Sparks Success.”

Attendees are invited to meet the Bookshare staff during Bookshare Office Hours on July 5th from 5:45 to 7:00 pm in the Alpine room. Please stop by and learn more about Bookshare, sign up or renew memberships, and get your questions answered.

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day it raises the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and their dreams. Attendees at the NFB National Convention may be long-time convention goers, the newly blinded, parents and teachers of blind children, blindness professionals, and adaptive-technology providers.

Attendees can meet the Bookshare staff in the exhibit hall to sign up for or renew memberships, ask questions, and learn more about Bookshare. Special offer available in the booth only: the Bookshare set-up fee ($25) will be waived for new members.

We will also be giving a series of presentations to various NFB committees and attendees at divisional meetings. Consult the program for more information.

We hope to see you this summer at one – or more – of these conferences. We love connecting with Bookshare members and their families and friends.

Follow these guidelines to set your child up for summer reading success

As the end of school draws near, students dream of summer freedom – freedom to choose some fun activities as well as the books they want to read.

Is your child ready for summer reading? Make sure they have access to Bookshare, either with a Student Login provided by their teacher or with an Individual Membership. Then follow these guidelines to help your child become a reading STAR*:

Space

Encourage reading anywhere and everywhere

Try places like the beach, the pool, grandma’s house, a tent in the backyard, a hammock, the park, a blanket fort, or in the car

Time

Reading doesn’t just spontaneously happen.

Set aside specific times to read each day: before bedtime, while waiting for dinner, before going out to play, or whatever works best for your family

Access to books

Let kids be “free range” and choose their own books; we’ve got great recommendations below (if your child has a Student Login through school, make sure teachers have assigned books to your child for summer)

Have plenty of books downloaded for reading in the car

Download books that your child’s friends are reading so he or she can join the conversation

Visit the public library regularly, let your child find appealing books, note the titles, and then download those books in Bookshare when you get home

Rituals

Try all types of reading: solo silent reading, take turns reading passages aloud with your child, or read the same book your child is reading and have a book club discussion

Children who observe parents reading become better readers themselves, so set a good example by turning off the TV and reading a book

Bookshare has Summer Reading Lists for All Ages

The Bookshare librarians have created special Summer Reading Lists for all ages and interests to kick start your child’s summer reading. Here are just a few of the engaging titles:

Bookshare member successfully navigates college life and offers valuable advice for students with disabilities

“A disability is something you have, not who you are.”

As graduation nears for many high school students, thoughts turn to college and the importance of survival skills. Topping the list is the ability to advocate for yourself because the days of spoon-feeding and hand-holding are over. This advice is especially important for students with disabilities, and a student who embodies this sentiment completely is Veronica Lewis.

“Self-advocacy is learning how to speak up for yourself, as well as learning, building a support network, problem solving, and knowing when to reach out for help,” says Veronica. “It’s an extremely important skill to have, as there may not always be someone with you when a situation comes up. This skill has benefited me greatly outside of school, in college, and beyond.”

Veronica, a student at a university in the Virginia/Washington, D.C. area, is studying software engineering and assistive technology in order to develop tools for people like herself with low vision. Bookshare is a big reason why she wants to pursue this field. In 2011, she attended an assistive technology conference for students with disabilities where she learned about Bookshare. She quickly became a member and started downloading accessible ebooks from its extensive library, which now exceeds 550,000 titles.

Reading Before and After Bookshare

“Before Bookshare came along, I was limited to the large print section of the public library which was filled with romance novels and had no age-appropriate books for thirteen-year-old girls,” explains Veronica. “I tried to order other large print books but often the font wasn’t large enough, and the books were expensive and too big to lug around. Then came Bookshare and the Nook ereader which changed my life.”

Bookshare’s library of accessible ebooks solved the problems associated with selection, format, and cost. Membership is free to all U.S. students who qualify. “Thanks to features like enlarged fonts and adjustable color contrast I can have the same reading experience as my sighted friends,” she exclaimed. Veronica uses a variety of reading tools and electronic devices to read books: iPad, Nook and the Go Read app for Android, and Bookshare Web Reader. She enjoys disability literature, nonfiction, memoirs, and books for her English classes. “Most popular books are available instantly so I can read them and join the conversation. I love to get lost in a book,” says Veronica.

Advice for Students with Visual Impairments

Veronica recommends these tips to build a network of resources:

Ask questions. Make sure you know exactly what services you can receive and how you receive them.

The world doesn’t have a large print setting you can toggle on and off. If someone hands you a document with small print, develop a plan in advance for making it accessible so you can keep up with schoolwork.

When considering colleges, evaluate the Disabled Student Services (DSS) and make sure the staff will work with you proactively to give you the tools you need. Read Veronica’s blog: Ten questions to ask when choosing a college.

If you report a problem, offer a solution – help people give you the help you need.

Seeing the World with Four Eyes Open

Veronica started her Assistive Technology blog (www.veroniiiica.com) to reach out to people with low vision or blindness and let them know they can be successful. She strives to be a role model for younger students and show how they can do amazing things just like their sighted friends. She also offers valuable advice for teachers, parents, and friends of these students. Here are just a few of her engaging and informative blog posts:

Many thanks to Veronica for sharing her story and for being a strong advocate for Bookshare by urging the Virginia members of Congress to support renewed funding for Bookshare. Follow Veronica on Twitter: @Veron4ica

Teachers: follow this checklist before school ends so students are ready for a summer reading bonanza

Great readers are made, not born. For students with disabilities, the path to reading greatness may require tools and support. We know the final weeks of the school year are hectic, so here’s a handy checklist to help you get your students ready for delightful summer reading and the upcoming school year.

According to Reading Rockets, studies show that most students experience a loss of reading skills over the summer months, but children who continue to read will gain skills. Help students avoid the dreaded “summer slide” by completing these steps before the final school bell rings.

If your students are already set up to access Bookshare independently, jump ahead to learn about our special Summer Reading Lists.

End-of-Year Checklist for Teachers

Get students access to Bookshare with a Student Login or Individual Membership

With a Student Login, they can log into Bookshare with their own username and password and read books assigned by teachers (video/PDF)

With an Individual Membership, they can log in, find, and read books on their own (video/PDF)

Now that your students are set to use Bookshare this summer, it’s time to find some books. Our librarians have handpicked wonderful titles and organized them into Summer Reading Lists for enthusiastic readers of all ages and interests. Here are just a few titles to pique your students’ interest:

We are grateful for the dedicated volunteers who help us bring more books to more members

By Vanessa Wai, Communities Manager, Benetech Global Literacy Program

April 23-29 is National Volunteer Week. This year the theme is “Service Unites.” This theme aptly describes the amazing work of our incredible Bookshare members and volunteers.

Bookshare started as a community program that connected blind and visually impaired individuals in order to share their scanned books with each other. Members scanned and uploaded their books so that other members could enjoy them without duplicating the effort of scanning the books themselves. Since then, the Bookshare community has grown to over 470,000 members, 820 publisher partners, 150 volunteers, 790 Mentor Teachers, 160 Parent Ambassadors, plus thousands of schools, districts, sponsors, educators, parents, students, and friends.

Today, volunteers continue this tradition of adding books to the collection. In 2016, volunteers added 602 books into the collection, which is a total of 280,882 pages! All books go through a three-step process and are reviewed by at least three different volunteers to ensure high quality, accessible ebooks.

It’s truly marvelous that people all over the country can work together to make books accessible for those of us who can’t read regular print that otherwise wouldn’t be available anywhere. Only Bookshare lets us do this kind of thing. Nowhere else can people have the desire to read something that’s inaccessible, make their wish known, and get their wish granted in a few weeks. And that doesn’t take into account the likelihood of many other Bookshare members, finding out about the book once it’s in the collection, who will be able to read and enjoy it who otherwise never would.

Because of our volunteers’ efforts, members are able to access thousands of books that we would not otherwise have in our library. In 2016, members downloaded the books added by volunteers a total of 85,723 times! Below is the list of the top ten most downloaded volunteer-added books with their corresponding volunteers.

I am truly amazed by the resilience and dedication of our Bookshare Volunteers. In 2007, we were five years old and Bookshare had over 26,000 books in the collection – all scanned by dedicated volunteers and staff. And now, ten years later, because of the amazing work of this community and our publisher partners, we now have over 545,000 books in our collection. It’s astonishing how much Bookshare has grown. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of our community. Thank you!

Are you interested in becoming a Bookshare Volunteer? Learn more about our volunteer opportunities and click on Sign Up to get started.